Light and Shadow
by Marina and Hotaru
Summary: A magic time remote. Two fangirls. Chaos. How is a cheerleader good at Taijutsu? How is the weakling a genjutsu expert? But, most importantly, will they be able to change the past... and the future? Begins during chuunin exams. On hiatus.
1. The Beginning

**Marina: We do not own Naruto. *Goes and cries in emo corner with Gaara plushie***

**Hotaru: *Hits Marina's head* Don't be such an emo! Besides, you have to introduce us.**

**Marina: Okokok! If you are reading this then YOU ROCK!!! Anyway Hotaru and I are twin sisters but we are complete opposites (Except for the fact we both love anime.) Like I'm hyperactive and she's really grumpy, I'm short and she's tall, I'm crazy happy and she's a pessimist, ect…**

**Hotaru: I am not grumpy, I'm just tired. And I'm a realist, not a pessimist, you dobe!**

**Marina: Realist, pessimist, SAME BASIC PRINCIPLE!!! Anyway, enjoy! **

* * *

xX-Marina's point of view!-Xx

Ok, like how unfair is this: I was sitting on a bench, reading manga, when this guy walked over to me and said hi. I said hi back so I wouldn't sound rude, even though I had never seen this guy in my life, and he pushes me! Like for no reason at all! My knees were bleeding a lot, but the pain hadn't kicked in yet, so I followed him, just to ask him what he was doing pushing little girls like that. I put my hand on his shoulder to try and make him stop running, but he just pushed me again. I cut my face, now it was personal. I ran as fast as I could (which was pretty damn fast.) to try and catch the man, and I did, but every time I caught him he pushed me off. I had blood in my hair and on my top, and according to Hotaru, 'looked like something out of a Japanese horror movie'. I caught him, tripped him over, then put him in a headlock so he couldn't move.

"Who do you think you are, pushing me like that?" He had chosen the wrong girl to mess with. No answer. "Who the hell are you?" I positioned my leg, ready to knee him somewhere no one wants to be kneed. "Tell me now!" I was known to overdo it when it came to the whole self-defence thing.

The man turned his head to face mine.

"Whacha gonna do, Princess?" He was asking for it "Call your daddy to come and save you?"

"No," I paused for emphasis. "I'll just do this!" I kneed him hard, like as hard as I could. He yelped at the contact, then lay doubled over on the floor. "That's what you get when you mess with a ninja! Dattebayo!" No, I'm not a ninja, I just watched a bit too much Naruto last night. I skipped off happily, even though my legs and face were covered in blood.

-click-

Xx-Hotaru's POV-xX

That's Marina, jumping in right to the middle of the story. Introduce ourselves? Noooo, she has to jump straight to the her kicking butt.

I'm Hotaru, and my name means firefly. Yes, the little insect.

I'm 12 and I like black. A lot. *Motions at completely black clothes* You never would have guessed, would you? I'm the smart one, the one who hates exercise and reads books all day.

My sister is Marina, and we're twins. Three guesses how old she is. She's the younger of us by a few minutes, and she is the most hyperactive person I have ever met. Her name means "Of the ocean". She's the stronger of us both, although she doesn't show it. She does tend to rush into things without thinking though. She's the one on all the school sport teams and captain of the cheerleading squad. I'm the one on all the math teams and the debating team and so on and so forth. Call me a nerd, and I will tell Marina you ate her cookies. Marina's favourite colour is blue and she hates it when people call her a ditz or princess. Seriously, she HATES it. She is a ditz and a princess, but she still hates it when people call her those. Dobe, fine, baka, fine, usuratonkachi, fine. But princess? She blows her top.

The only things we have in common are our love for anime, our birthday and our nut allergy. Yes, genius, we both have nut allergies. Mine's not that bad, but Marina's?

BOOM! Just kidding! It is really bad though, she's been to hospital so many times I can't even count, and I'm head of the math team. White choc and macadamia nut cookies are good, but yeesh! She also blushes a lot for no good reason. It has gotten her into trouble a lot. How, I hear all you avid readers asking? Eg.*sob* my boyfriend left me for another girl*sob*. Que blush! Then the girl thinks it was her and they get into a massive fight, and she hospitalises the girl. Then the parents try to sue. And then who ends up with all the legal crap? Me, that's who.

-click-

And now, back to the story!

Marina: How can you do that?

Hotaru: By using my magical remote control that we stole from Dumbledore. He's

still trying to get it back, so let's get on with it!

Marina: Huh?

Hotaru: Just shut up and watch.

-click-

xX-Marina's point of view-Xx

"Taru-chan!!! Answer the door!" I had knocked on the door so many times my hand was hurting. "HOTARU!!!! ANSWER THE STUPID DOOR ALREADY! I'M GONNA MISS NARUTO!!!"

"Why would I answer the door," Taru was walking up the drive "When it didn't ask me a question? Anyway, I was at the library. I told you that I was going this morning, dobe."

"Oh, yeah! I kinda forgot about that!"

"Kinda?"

"Completely."

"Thought so."

Taru opened the door, which had been unlocked the whole time. God, I felt stupid! (well more so than usual.) I ran to the sitting room and plopped myself onto the squishy white sofa. I turned on the T.V. and Taru and I sang along to Haruka Kanata.

"Marina?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you so obsessed with not missing Naruto on TV, when you have all the boxsets?"

Hotaru asked me that question everyday, and everyday I answered:

"Dunno, just am!"

Hotaru and I kinda live on our own, (Hotaru: For storyline purposes. We can't go on an adventure with a curfew, can we?).

"I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed!" Hotaru was always tired.

"I'm not, so I won't!" And I was never tired.

I spent hours watching the chuunin exams. Sue me. I was pretty pooped after that, so I decided to go to bed.

"Oyasumi, Taru-chan!" I wasn't scared of waking her up because a herd of elephants could tear our house down and she wouldn't notice. Trust me, I know these things.

I fell asleep quite quickly that night, which was very strange for me.

When I woke up, I heard Rock Lee's voice.

"Taru-chanturnthatdownimtryingtosleepyouknow!" My bed was cold, like ice cold. Lee was still ranting on about the power of youth. I punched my alarm clock, but hit something warm. Or someone warm, I didn't quite know which. I opened my eyes and noticed Lee was sitting beside me rubbing his stomach.

"Oh, sorry Lee!" I paused "LEE?WHATTHEFLIPAREYOUDOINGINMYROOM?!"

"Um, what room?"

"My bedroom, baka!"

"We're outside."

I looked around, we were outside.

"Well what the hell are we doing outside?"

"I was going for an early morning run and I noticed you lying there, so I went over to see if you were ok, then you punched me and asked what I was doing in your room!"

"Lee?"

"What is it, my youthful friend?"

"You talk too much." I tucked my hair behind my ear. Wait a second, my hair was blonde! I'm not blonde, I'm a brunette!!! Stupid Lee kidnapped me from my room and dyed my hair, great! Just great! And although the hair _was_ great, this sucked some major eggs.

Lee was still ranting on about the power of youth.

"Lee?"

"Yes?"

"Where are Tenten, Neji and Guy-Sensei?"

"How do you know my teammates' names? Wait, and my name, I do not remember introducing myself!"

"Smagic!"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You look pretty roughed up, maybe I should take you to see Guy-sensei!"

"Yes, please!" I was too tired to argue.

Lee carried me back to the village, (Hotaru: Awww!) and brought me to Guy-sensei.

"Hiya, Guy-sensei!" At first Guy stared at me, then he stared at Lee (Who was still holding me bridal-style.) A smile crept across his lips.

"Lee! You found yourself a girlfriend!" I could feel myself blushing.

"Um, not quite Guy-sensei, you see I was on my walk and she was out cold, and she woke up, then she punched me and she was hurt and I thought you could help her."

Guy crouched above me and started to clean my scratches.

"Ow!!!" The ointment stung like hell though.

"What's with all the screaming?" Tenten and Neji had walked in while I was concentrating on the stinging. Neji paused when saw me sitting on the floor, screaming like a little girl.

"Neji!!!" I glomped him. (Hotaru: Glomp = tackle in Marinaeese)

"Um, what are you doing?" Neji was looking at me with a puzzled look on his face.

"You're Neji Hyuuga! What do you expect me to do?! Wait just a peanutbutterjelly second! Where's Taru-chan?"

"Who's she?" Tenten asked.

"She's my twin sister!" None of them had seen her.

I jumped off Neji and went over to Tenten

"Hello, my name is Marina!" I bowed politely

"I'm Tenten!" She bowed back "I haven't seen you around, what village do you come from?"

"I have no idea! Let me just find my- there!" I held up my headband, which was on my left arm. It had the moon engraved on it. "What village is this one from, Guy?" I showed Guy the headband. He looked shocked.

"We need to go see the Hokage, right now!"

"Sarutobi?"

"How do you know who the Hokage is?"

"Smagic?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

We all walked to the hokage tower, (well I cart wheeled most of the way but…) and guess who I saw in the waiting room?

"Taru-chan!!!" I glomped her "Where have you been?!"

"I could ask you the same question!" I jumped off her. Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were staring at me. I gave them all an ear to ear smile, which only confused them more. Whoopsies!

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**Marina: Reviews make me happy!**

**Hotaru: Flames will be used to bake Marina cookies! Do you want her more hyper?**

**Marina: I want cookies!**

**Hotaru: We like constructive criticism, though.**

**Marina: Con-whaty whatywhat?**

**Hotaru: Nothing.**

**Marina: *Gives all reviewers a cookie* Please review!**


	2. The Revelation

Xx-Hotaru's POV-xX

DISCLAIMER: Marina and I do not own Naruto. Sad, but true.

Xx-Hotaru's POV-xX

I went to bed before Marina. She was watching the chuunin exams, and she probably wouldn't go to bed till they were finished. What a bore…

I woke up, and hell, it was COLD!

"Hey Marina, give me back my blanket, or I'll make you watch sasusaku tribute videos!"(Marina hated sasusaku. She's a yaoi addict. 100% sasunaru.)

"Man, this is such a drag…" A familiar voice came from beside me. Wait, was that…?

"I wonder if she's alive. Maybe someone should poke her and see."

OK, now I was ticked off. Why were they talking about me like I wasn't there?

"Touch me, and you wont live long enough to know the answer." Stupid Chouji, waking me up from my …CHOUJI?!

"Chouji?! What in the name of all that's holy are YOU doing here?!"

"This is so troublesome…"

"Sasuke, Sasuke ,Sasuke…"

"Shikamaru?! Ino? What is team 8 doing in my room?"

"Your room?" That annoyingly shrill voice could only be Ino. "Well, I love what you did with it. The trees are a nice touch."

"Shut up, Ino-pig. My room doesn't have trees." I opened my eyes, and I was outside with a worried/angry Ino, a hungry looking Chouji and a bored looking Shikamaru looking down at me. Wait, looking down? I'm not short! Oh wait, I'm lying down. Ok then. Back to the story.

"What am I doing out here? Where's Marina?"

OK they took me out of my room, dumped me outside, took my blankets and woke me up. What am I worried about!? Marina could kick their buts easy-peasy; she's probably in on all this.

"We haven't done anything. You were out cold... Such a drag!"

"Tell me about it!" I sighed loud enough for them all to hear.

"I come in peace. Take me to your leader." Chouji and Ino looked confused. Shikamaru had a huge grin on his face.

"No way!"

"Beam us up, Scotty!"

I stood up and did the 'alien peace' sign, and we said in perfect unison "May you live long and prosper."

"Seriously, though, I do need you to take me to your leader. I need to talk to the Hokage." I guess, if I was in Naruto-land, the best thing to do would be to see Tsunade. She might know how I got here. Not to mention that if Marina was in Naruto-land too, that's where she would go.

After about a kilometre, we arrived in Konoha. I used the time to see what was in my bag. This being an adventure that makes no sense, I probably start off with the basic items, like in a RPG. There weren't any swords, but I did have a scroll, some clothes, some kunai and shuriken, my 'necessities' and my laptop.

Ino and Chouji both teased me when I needed Shikamaru's help halfway there. I'm not the world's strongest person, but I didn't say Chouji was fat, or call Ino a dumb blonde. Shikamaru was pretty nice about it though. We talked about sci-fi movies as we walked. Is this guy real? He reads, watches sci-fi movies, plays chess and is a Trekkie! Dude, where have you _been_ all my life?! Anyways, back to the revenge!

"Hey guys! You do realise that you just brought a stranger you found unconscious right to the gates of Konoha, and that for all you know, I could be a rival ninja, here to kill you all, right?"

Revenge is sweet! Ino and Chouji both looked really worried that I was about to kill them. Shikamaru, however, looked as calm as ever. "I did realise that, but if an enemy country were to send a ninja to kill us all, why would they send a twelve-year-old girl? Also, you cough a lot and need help to walk a kilometre. And thirdly, a twelve-year-old defeat all the ninja in Konoha single-handedly? Yeah, and Ino's the Queen of Sheba!"

"You mean she isn't?"

"Good point, but nevertheless, you couldn't be sent to destroy Konoha. It doesn't add up."

That's Shikamaru, smart as ever!

"True, but I wanted to get Ino and Chouji back for teasing me."

"Ok, Hotaru-san, the Hokage tower is just up there."

"You should come with me. If I am an enemy ninja, you get the credit for capturing me, and if I am not, you get to say you saved me."

I probably needed a Konoha ninja with me to get an appointment, since I wasn't anyone special.

"TARU-CHAAAAAN!!!" I was glomped…

"General point of view.

"Tsunade-sama!" Guy-sensei was knocking furiously at the door. "Tsunade-sama!!!"

The door opened to reveal a very grumpy looking Tsunade.

"Hm?" Tsunade lifted her head from her desk. "Guy, what is it this time!?"

Guy lead the two girls in, then pointed at Marina's headband. Tsunade let out a small gasp, then stood up and bowed.

"Tsunade-sama," Marina asked. "Um, you're the Hokage, you don't bow to us, it's the other way around. We're supposed to bow to you, right?"

"No, I could never ask someone of your status-"

"Our status? What status?" Marina was clueless. "Do we even have a status?"

"Um, very funny Marina-hime. Hotaru-hime could you please explain-"

"Hotaru-hime? Tsunade-sama, why are you calling us princesses?"

"You don't know?" Tsunade had a puzzled expression on her face. "You really don't know?" Marina shook her head.

"Tsunade-sama, if you could please explain to us I'm sure we could understand…" Hotaru asked, very politely.

"Very funny, girls. Stop messing around." Tsunade gave us a smirk "Your father would not approve of such nonsense!"

"Tsunade, we are being perfectly serious. We have no idea how we got here." Taru said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I am very sorry, but I am forbidden to talk about business of your village in Konoha. I will get in contact with your father immediately, then we can talk."

"Wait a second," Marina was still clueless about the whole situation. "Why did you call us princesses?"

Tsunade leant over to the two girls. "Because you are."

Hotaru looked like she was still processing the information, while a massive grin had appeared on Marina's face. "So I'm a princess!?"

"Yes, it would appear so."

"Ok… I suppose we have no choice other then to believe you, although this does seem like a very tall story…"

"Taller than me?" Marina asked with a stupid look on her face. Hotaru hit her across the back of the head. "Why did you hit me? I asked a serious question!"

"I assure you Hotaru-hime, that I am being serious." Tsunade was reaching for her sake.

"Until your father sends someone to escort you two back to the village, you will have to stay with our ninja for protection. You can also study at the academy to make sure you don't fall behind on your studies. If you would like I could assign you each to one of our teams to train with."

"Can we do ninja missions too?" Marina always wanted to rush into everything.

"I'm not sure your father would allow me to let you go on dangerous missions, but you could do a few D-ranks, I guess."

"Yay!!!" Marina had a big, stupid grin on her face. "Can I go with team Guy? Oh, and I bet Hotaru wants to go with team eight!!!"

"Those teams will be fine. Let me go talk to the two senseis." Tsunade took a gulp of sake and went out the door.

"Ok, you are in! I'm sure your senseis will show you two around Konoha and make sure your stay is as nice as possible. Oh, and you two are staying at the hotel down the street, in room 97, ok? Until you earn enough to rent a house. It would seem suspicious if I paid for a house for you, but visitors to Konoha always stay there, so you won't be questioned."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Hotaru took the key Tsunade was holding and popped it in her pocket. "I'm sure we will both like it here." Hotaru and Marina both bowed and walked out of Tsunade's office.


	3. The power of youth, Marina style!

**Hotaru: We don't own Naruto. Tragic.**

**Marina: Not yet, but I have saved up twenty-four cents.**

**Hotaru: Yesterday you had 20 quid!**

**Marina: I bought a cookie.**

**Hotaru: A $19.76 cookie?**

**Marina: It was a BIG cookie.**

xX-Marina's point of view-Xx

"So, Marina-hime, you are now an official member of team Guy!!!" Guy-sensei was giving me a thumbs-up and smiling.

"Yay!!!" I glomped him. I always glomp people when I'm happy. We were both sitting on the floor laughing.

"Maybe we should go back and tell the rest of the team the good news. I'm sure Lee will be ecstatic!"

"Ec-what-ic?" That sounded like one of those words Hotaru-chan used when she wanted to confuse me…

"It means very happy."

"Oh!" I stood up and started walking towards the door. "Hey, Guy-sensei!" I flashed him a cheeky smile "Catch me if you can!!!" He smiled back, and I knew he was agreeing.

"Three… Two… One…" POOF! I was gone! Well, not really. I had just thrown a smoke bomb and ran.

"Genjutsu, clever!"

"Not quite!" I looked back and stuck my tongue out. "Na-na-na-na-na!"

I started running full speed towards the training grounds, dodging whenever Guy decided to tackle me.

"Lee, your crazy sensei is trying to kill me!!!" Lee was beating the crud out of a tree when we flew past. Guy tackled me and I couldn't dodge. We both fell to the floor.

"Looks like you two were having fun…" Neji had been sparring with Tenten.

"Team! I have a youthful announcement to make!" Guy stood up and brushed the dirt off his green spandex suit. "Marina-chan is going to join us for training and missions for a while!"

"Guy-sensei?" Lee asked. "What level is Marina? Genin or chuunin?"

"Neither."

"So, she's a jounin?"

"No. In the village Marina's from, you don't get classified as such."

"Then, how do they choose which missions to assign?"

"In their village you select your own missions."

"But what if you choose a mission that's too difficult?"

"You are expected to know yourself well enough to be able to choose the right rank. If you're conceited about your ability, you die."

"What?" I had no idea that 'my' village was so bad. "You DIE!? What sort of a stupid rule is that!?"

Silence.

"So, maybe we should get back to training now!" Guy-sensei tried to change the subject. "We still have to find out what you can do, Marina!"

"I guess so…"

"Neji! Tenten! You two can spar again. Lee, you help me test Marina's Taijutsu."

Neji and Tenten ran off to the training grounds. Lee was looking at me with a big grin on his face.

"Lee, go easy on her at first, then build it up till you think she's struggling, then stop. Ok? We don't want her roughed up too bad! Marina! Only Taijustu, ok?"

"Fine, sensei!" Lee walked to one end of the grounds, and I walked to the other. "Ready, Marina?"

"Hell yeah!!!"

I charged at Lee, who dodged the attack easily. I punched and kicked, but Lee just dodged. Dang it though, I was GOOD! He wasn't taking this seriously. I kicked him square in the stomach. Lee winced at the pain, but kept on fighting. Now Lee would at least try to hit me back. I punched him right in the jaw. A thin line of blood dripped from the side of his mouth. (OMG, I just hit Rock Lee!)

Guy was watching our every move, occasionally nodding or shaking his head. Lee was lunging at me, but I dodged or countered every time. Lee was getting tired, I could tell. Lee kicked me upwards and I knew what was coming.

"The lotus…"

Lee just nodded at me. I was trying desperately to think of a counter. Lee came up behind me and his arm bandages started to wrap around me. My muscles were working by themselves, like they do when you do a dance routine so many times it becomes muscle memory. I put my foot on Lee's knee and pushed myself up. Lee was still tied onto me, so he went up too.

"Brace yourself!" I whispered into Lee's ear. "Cause you're in for one hell of a ride!"

I only said that to distract him while I tried to remember the move. Damn you, selective memory!

We started falling. I used the bandages to position myself behind him. I just hoped it would work. "MOONLIGHT BARRAGE!!!" I pulled us into a series of flips and turns, then, just as we hit the ground I stuck my leg out. (Thanks for that one, Sasuke!) I hit him in the stomach, then walked over to Guy, who was staring at Lee lying on the floor.

"Sensei, I'm pooped. Can I go home now?" Guy just stared at me in disbelief.

"Marina-chan, what was that?"

"Oh, that was my own personal barrage!"

"Who taught you to do that?"

"No one taught me,I just made it up as I went along. It was AWESOME! W00t w00t! "

"You invented it?"

"Yup! I just took the basics from Lee's lotus, then just altered it to suit me better!"

Guy just looked at me, then poofed off to help Lee. Neji and Tenten had finished sparring and came to see what all the noise was. Tenten gasped when she saw Lee lying on the floor.

"Guy-sensei, we're done spa- What happened to Lee?"

"Marina knocked him out…"

"She knocked Lee out? Did she use ninjutsu?"

"No. She used a variation of the lotus. Completely Taijutsu."

"I thought you said Lee's Taijutsu was easily the best of our age group..."

"Marina's not in the same age group as you guys, she's the group below."

"BELOW?!"

"Yes, she's only 12, so she's in the 8-12 age group, you guys are 14 so you are in the 13-19 group."

"She's 12?"

"Yes."

"So, you are saying that a 12 year old girl beat the crud out of Lee?!"

"Basically, yes."

"You said Lee's taijutsu is almost unbeatable!"

"Almost, but not completely."

"But, a twelve year-old gir-"

"STOP TALKING ABOUT ME AS IF I'M NOT HERE!!!" I looked at Guy, Tenten and Neji. "I am right here you know!!! I am getting sick of being called 'she'! I have a name!" I walked over to Guy. "Anyway, how do you know how old I am?"

"All jounin know who you are…"

"Then who am I? Cause I sure as heck don't know!"

"Marina-hime, you are asking me to do something illegal…"

"And what might that be?"

"It is illegal for anyone in Konoha to talk about your village."

"Why?"

"Most ninja don't even know that your village exists…"

"Why?"

"I'm sorry, Marina-hime, but I am not allowed to say."

"Whatever!" I stormed off to my hotel room.

I arrived at room no. 97 and unlocked the door. There were two double beds in the room, I sat on the one next to the window and decided that now would be a good time to take a shower. My clothes were all sweaty from sparring with Lee so I took them off and wrapped a towel around myself.

I spotted the bag that I had been carrying when I arrived at Konoha, and decided to take a look at the contents. I emptied the bag onto my bed. It was mostly clothes, but all my most prized possessions were there. My CDs, my Gaara plushie and my sketchbook. I looked through the clothes for something to wear for the rest of the day. A cute white strapless dress, some knee-high pink and black striped socks and black ballerina pumps, I pulled them out of the pile and lay them down on my bed.

I had a quick shower, got dressed, and went to have some ramen at Ichiraku.

I ordered a miso ramen then started slurping it up. I noticed a certain blond sitting a few seats away from me.

"NARUTO!!!" I glomped him. We both went flying and got covered in ramen.

"Um… do I know you?"

"Not yet…" I started picking the ramen out of my hair. "I'm Marina."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and one day I'm gonna be-"  
"Hokage!!!"

"Exactly!" He was grinning from ear to ear. "So you have heard of me?!"

"I like wasted half my life on you!!!"

"So, you're a secret admirer then!"

"Not quite, you see it's really complicated!"

"Oh…" Naruto had a sad look in his eyes.

"I still think you are awesome though!" I gave him one of my biggest smiles.

"Thanks! My team mates just put me down all the time, and most of the villagers won't even talk to me."

I lent in closer and whispered in his ear: "Well, they don't have what you have, do they?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the demon fox! Kyuubi!"

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**Marina: I will use flames to bake muffins for my pet cat, and send her to eat your face when she's on a sugar rush. Review and I'll lend you my Gaara plushie. THANK YEW!!!**


	4. The Suprise

**

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**

Marina: You know the drill. Don't own Naruto. Probably never will. My life is spiralling into a black abyss. I hurt myself to remind me i'm alive. I feed on other's misery. You left my heart an open wound. If life ain't a joke, then why are we laughing? *Cries in emo corner with Gaara plushie*. I'm gonna go cut myself. Enjoy.

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Xx-Marina's POV-xX

"Well, they don't have what you have, do they?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the demon fox! Kyuubi!"

"How do you know about that?"

"I know everything about you!"

"Impossible!"

"Ask me any question about yourself, then!"

"Favourite colour?"

"Orange."

"Favourite food?"

"Ramen."

"If you know everything about me, then what colour are my underwear?"

"Blue."

"How the hell did you know that!?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Dunno, it's just that anytime I have seen you in your underwear it has been blue, so I guessed…"

"You have seen me in underwear!?" A blush spread across Naruto's face.

"Yup! Loadsa times!!!" Naruto went red. I sat up on the stool and continued to slurp my ramen. Naruto did the same

"How many times?"

"A good few…"

"I see…" Naruto was the same colour as a beetroot.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"I bet I could eat more ramen in twenty minutes than you!"

"No way."

"The loser has to be the winner's slave for a day!"

"If you want to be my slave for a day, fine! You're on!"

"Time starts…" I looked at my watch. "NOW!"

Naruto and I were slurping down ramen at an alarming rate.

"More, please!"

"More!"

"More!"

"MORE!!!"

"MOOORRREEE!"

"MORE, MORE, MORE!!!"

"Time's up!" I looked at the pile of bowls in front of Naruto, then at my own.

"Thirteen!" Naruto looked at me with a smug look on his face. "Beat that!"

"Four…" I pretended to look disappointed. "TEEN!!! YOU LOSE!!!"

"What?!" He stared at the pile of empty bowls. "A girl beat me! How?!"

"Like this!!!" I picked up a bowl of ramen and slurped it up.

"Ok then, I'm your slave for the rest of the day."

"First, let's go see the rest of your team!!!" I threw a wad of cash on the table. "That should cover it!"

I convinced Naruto to introduce me to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! I'd like you to meet Marina-chan, my new friend!" Kakashi turned around then gasped.

"Marina-hime, what are you doing in Konoha?"

"Why does everyone know who I am?!" I was getting sick of the Princess thing. "First Guy-sensei, then old man Hokage and now Kakashi! It's like the only person who doesn't know who I am is me!!!"

"Calm down, Marina-sama."

"I will not calm down! I am stressed out! And why am I stressed out?! Because I just finished beating the crap out of Lee, then I get here and just when I start to have some fun with Naruto, you start being all overprotective of me! I can take care of myself, you know! I don't need everyone guarding me! I am sick and tired of everyone treating me like a sheet of glass! I am just as tough as any of the ninja here and I think I deserve to be treated just as they are, thank you very much scarecrow-face!!!"

"Marina?" Naruto was glaring at me.

"Yes."

"You beat the crap out of who?"

"Lee."

"Do you mean that student of Guy's who he is always bragging about?" Kakashi asked.

"Yep."

"How?"

"Moonlight Barrage…"

"Moonlight what?"

"It's a barrage I invented…"

"Invented? Do you have a kekke genkai, then?"

"Nope, just copied it. It's taijutsu so everything is exactly the way it looks…"

"Guess so…"

"I better be leaving soon, it's getting dark!"

"Why, are you afraid of the dark?"

"Kinda…"

"Oh, if you'd like I can walk you home."

"That would be nice!!!"

"Cool!"

Naruto and I started to walk to the hotel in silence, when I had a fantabulous idea:

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna have a sleepover?" Naruto stared at me.

"Don't you think that's a bit sudden, Marina? I only met you an hour ago!"  
"Not that kind of sleepover! Like we could invite everyone and play truth or dare!!!"

"Oh…"

"We could have it in the hotel! I'm sure old man Hokage wouldn't mind!"

"I'll invite everyone I know! When is it going to be?"

"Tomorrow, at nine, in room 97."

"I'll see who can come!"

"Cool!"

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I got to the hotel, only to be met with a worried Guy-sensei and team Guy.

"Marina-hime, where have you been? I was worried sick about you!!!"

"I just went out for ramen and met Naruto-kun!" I pointed at Naruto, who had gone red when met with Neji's ever-present death-stare. "Naruto-kun offered to walk me to the hotel."

"Marina-hime, I must forbid you from leaving the hotel again."

"What!? Why!?"

"There has been a sighting of Orochimaru in Konoha. We cannot take any chances."

"He doesn't want me, he wants Sasuke!"

Man, I was glad Naruto had left...

"How do you know!?"

"The second stage of the chuunin exams are soon, right?"

"Right, they are in three days time, why?"

"In the forest, Orochimaru is going to give Sasuke a cursemark on his neck, just like Anko's, then Sasuke is going to turn evil and leave for 70 episodes!!!"  
"Episodes?"

"Oh, right! Sorry, I mean a long, long time! We have to stop, or at least postpone the chuunin exams!"

"How do you know all this?"

"Boxset 2:1, episodes 27-37." Everybody looked at me as if I was speaking some other language. "In the forest of death!"

"Marina-hime, what do you know of Orochimaru?"

"Pale dude, really tall, long hair and awesome purple eye makeup! Oh and his earrings are cool too…"

"I mean how do you know about…" Guy-sensei leant in. "…The cursemark?"

"Oh, Sasuke gets one and Anko has one. I'm not sure who else has them, but…"

"We need to see the Hokage again!"

"Again!?"

"You need to tell him everything you know about Orochimaru!"

"I guess so…"

Guy-sensei grabbed me by the arm and started running towards the Hokage tower. We got there within seconds. He pushed open the door and pushed his way through the waiting room. Guy burst into the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama, Marina has information on Orochimaru! It's urgent!"

The Sandaime ushered the sandnin that were in his office to leave.

"Marina-hime, is this true?"

I nodded my head. "It is."

"What do you know?"

"Orochimaru will attack during the chuunin exams. His main target will be Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha? Why?"

"Sharingan."

"I see. How do you know all this?"

"Long story..."

"I have a while!"

"REALLY long story!"

"Oh." He could see that I was in no mood to explain. "We will assign ANBU to the forest of death on the day of the exam."

"It won't work, Orochimaru will kill them all."

"I will have to assign all the ANBU to the forest of death."

"Hokage-sama, you need to cancel or postpone the exam, there is no way around it."

"I'm sorry Marina but there is no way I can do that. Many Genin have travelled from other countries to participate in this exam."

"So, you are just going to let Orochimaru kill Sasuke?"

"I will make sure no harm comes to the Uchiha."

"Old man, I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but you are not taking into consideration all the factors. Orochimaru will take Sasuke, kill him and use his body as a host to start a world war three. If you do not want that to happen, then you will listen to me and postpone the exams!" (I assume they have heard of the two world wars in Konoha…) Wow, I sounded like Hotaru... I iz smartz! W00t w00t!

"Marina-hime…"

"Don't you 'Marina-hime' me! I am insisting that you postpone the exams."

"I am sorry Marina-hime, but that will not be possible, now I have lots of urgent business to take care of."

Guy grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me out of the office.

"Guy-sensei, I'm going to go back to the hotel."  
"Fine, just don't sneak off again, OK?"

"Okay!"

I had my fingers crossed... Muahahahaha!

* * *

**Marina: I am sorry for my emo-tional (Hehehe cheesy pun!) breakdown at the disclaimer. I was falling from a sugar high. Now i have my sugar back, I IZ HYPER AGAIN!!! Please review. Thank you. Flames will be used to burn Deidara's hair. You don't want that, do you?**

**Hotaru: It _is_ cool hair...**


	5. The hard part

**Hotaru : We still don't own Naruto. It's still tragic. Marina has 24 cents saved up though.**

**Marina : Whaddaya mean 24? I only have 4 cents!**

**Hotaru: What on earth did you buy with 20 cents?**

**Marina: A MINI-COOKIE!! W00t w00t!**

* * *

xX-Marina's POV-Xx

"Guy-sensei, I'm going to go back to the hotel."  
"Fine, just don't sneak off again, OK?"

"Okay!"

I had my fingers crossed. Muahahahaha!

I opened the door to room 97 and plopped myself onto the bed.

"Marina-chan, you took your time." Taru was sitting on the other bed. "I assumed you'd be here before nightfall cause of your, you know, problem."

"Oh, I had to see Hokage-baka!"

"Hokage-baka? Someone's angry!"

"I have every right to be angry! The old man won't stop Orochimaru from stealing our Sasuke!"

"What!?" Hotaru looked petrified. "Really!?"

"Yep!"

"Well if she won't do anything then we will have to!!!"

"Wait a sec, maybe that is why we were sent here. To change the storyline and stop Sasuke from leaving so he would finally fall in love with Naruto!!!"

"The first bit does kinda make sense, but SASUKE IS NOT GAY!!!"

"YAOI FOR EVEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! W00T W00T!"

"Shut up, Bob."  
"Don't call me Bob!!!"  
"Why not?"

"You know I hate it!"  
"And that's why I call you Bob!"

"I HATE YEWWWW!"

"I know."

I sat on the bed and sulked with my Gaara plushie.

"At least Gaara-chan understands me!!! I wish we could go to the exams and watch him!"

"I have an idea!"

"Go on…"

"If something tragic happens to Sakura, and we enrol in the exams…"

"Uh-huh…"  
"Then they will probably merge the two teams, which means we can stop Sasuke from leaving!"

"I don't kn-"  
"Gaara will be there!"

"Let's go!!! Wait, when is it?"  
"What?"  
"The exam!"

"Oh, it's three days from now, if I'm correct."

"You usually are, so then we'd better start packing."

"True." Taru grabbed her bag and started stuffing it with kunai and shuriken. I grabbed mine and packed it full of all my cosplay outfits.

"Marina, no cosplay!"

"Sorry…" I pulled out all the cosplay costumes, all except one.

"Even Gaara!"

"NUUUUUUUUUU! ARE YEW TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

"Pack less junk and more weapons."  
"But I NEED MY GAARA!!!"

"Sorry. No Gaara."

"YES GAARA!"

"No."  
"You know what happens when you deprive a fangirl of her beloved Gaara-kun?"

"Yes."  
"I EXPLODE!!!!!!!!"

"Boom! Now no Gaara."

"Ok…" I was as sad as a chibi could be. I pulled my Gaara outfit out of my bag and put it on the dresser. "But I'm packing the plushie. MUHAHAHA!!!"

"I need to teach you how to do an evil laugh; you're almost as bad as Dumbledore!!!"

"Can I pack my Gaara sleeping bag?"

"No."

"WHAT?!"

"Too big."

"I'll shrink it!"

"How?"  
"I'll seal it in a scroll!"

"You can't seal!"

"I'll blackmail Kakashi!!!"

"How?"

"I have a picture of him without his mask! MUAHAHAHA!!!"

"You could always just sell it on ebay!"

"Not evil enough…"

"I see…"

"Yeah…"

"So, may I see the photo, please?"

"No way in hell!"

"Awww, why?"

"Cause, it's my personal property!"

"Oh, come on! Pleeeassseeee?"  
"Nope!"  
"I'll give you a cookie if you give me that photo!" Taru pointed at the folded photo in my hand.

"Two."

"Deal!"

I gave Taru-chan the photo in my hand. She unfolded it, then started laughing hysterically.

"Wow,Kakashi's actually really cute!"

"I know!"

"We need to photocopy this before we blackmail him."

"Done!" I held up the hundreds of copies that were safely hidden in my bag. "Now let's go blackmail Kakashi!!!"  
"Marina, what did Guy-sensei say!?"

"No sneaking out of the hotel, why?"

"We are not allowed to sneak off again."

"Says who we're sneaking!"

"A loophole! I like!"

"We are going to see a jounin! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Right!"

* * *

"MARINA!!!" Guy-sensei was running after us. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE THE HOTEL!!!"

"BUT WE HAVE TO GO BLACKMAIL KAKASHI!!!"

"OH, GOOD LUCK THEN!!!" Guy stopped running. "TELL ME HOW IT WORKS OUT!"

"We will!" I could sense that Taru was getting tired.

"I *pant* need to *pant* take a *pant* break!"

"Ok. We'll walk the rest of the way!" Taru stopped running and so did I.

"Taru, how are we going to enrol for the chuunin exams. They have already started!"

"I have an evil scheme in mind..."

"Yay! A scheme! I love your schemes. You have the evilest schemes ever! W00t w00t!"

"Now we just need to come up with a cunning plan to get a certain pink-haired kunoichi out of the way…"

"I have an idea!"

"Go on."

"Do I have my ANBU cosplay outfit at the hotel?"

"Yes, why?"

"I don't know. But if an ANBU was to, I don't know, break one of Sakura's legs what would happen?"

"Good idea!"

"So it's decided. You take care of getting us into the exams and I'll take care of billboard brow!"

"Cool!"

"No. Not cool!"

"Huh?"

"Ice cold! Hehehe!"

* * *

**Taru's Pov**

"Hokage-sama?"

Yes, Hotaru-hime?"

"Can me and Marina enrol in the chuunin exams?"

"WHAT!? WHY?!"

"Long story. Can we?"

" I suppose I can't stop you…"

"Was that a yes?"

"You know that the chuunin exams are highly dangerous, and you're lives would be in danger, right?"

"Yes, we know. Can we enrol now?"

"But, you only have two members on your team, and your father would have my head if anything happened to either of you…"

"We will be fine with two members, and nothing will happen to us. This is anime; the main characters always escape unharmed!"

"True… Very well, then. I will give you permission to enrol, but you know you need to have someone to recommend your team and a sensei to train with."

"I'm sure Guy would recommend us! And I'm sure Iruka-sensei wouldn't mind training us!"

"I will ask Iruka and Guy if they can-"

"They have no choice in the matter."

"I see."

"So we are in the chuunin exams!"

"The first stage has passed already, so I will need you two to take the test, but apart from that you're good to go."

"You mean the one with Ibiki, that scary torture expert?"

"How did you know about that?"

"You do realize that Naruto Uzumaki took that test, and all of Konoha knows about it, right?"

"True…"

"His mind tricks wouldn't work on us anyway."

"Also true…"

"So, how about we just skip the exam and go straight to the forest of death?"

"I guess that would be reasonable…"

"So it's settled!"

* * *

**Marina: Review! Ill do ANYTHING for a review!**

**Hotaru: Liar.**

**Marina: I AM NOT!**

**Hotaru: Would you give away your Gaara plushie for a review?**

**Marina: NUUUUUU! Not my Gaara-chan!**

**Hotaru: *sigh* Marina means to say that she would really like a review.**

**Marina: What would I do without you, Taru-chan?**

**Hotaru: Die.**

**Marina: Reviews make me happy! Pretty please leave a review!**

**Hotaru: Leave a review if you want. If you don't, don't.**

**Marina: Taru-chan! How could you say that? *Goes and cries in emo corner with TWO Gaara plushies.* (That's how sad I am!)**

**Hotaru : Fine. Review.*sweatdrops***

**Marina : Yay! Thank yew Hotaru-chan!**


	6. The even harder part

**Hotaru: We would like to dedicate this chapter to hollow kenpachi 13. As usual don't own Naruto.**

**Marina: *Hugs hollow kenpachi 13* We also think bleach is great. We don't own it.**

**Ichigo: Well we are pretty awesome if i do say so myself. Except Renji. Renji is an idiot with a bad hairdo.**

**Renji: My hair is awesome. You're just jealous cause Rukia likes me best!**

**Marina: *Stares at the two guys***

**Renji: What is it, Marina?**

**Marina: I have a cheerleader outfit that would fit you just perfectly! *Has a fangirl nosebleed***

**Ichigo: We'd better leave before she plays dressup with us... *Runs away***

**Renji: *Is tied to a chair by Marina* LET ME GO!!!**

**Marina: *Holds up a frilly pink cheerleader costume* **

**Renji: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

**Hotaru: Let's leave those two in peace. Enjoy.**

* * *

xX-Marina's point of view-Xx

"Naruto, Please!?"

"No way."

"Why not?!"

"I am not helping you to get dressed!"

"But my zipper won't go up!!!"

"Call someone gay to do that for you."

"That's why I called you!!!"

"I'm not gay!"

"So this picture I have of you and Sasuke making out is a fake?"

"I fell and he caught me, we were not making out!"

"If you say so, Naru-chan!"

"Naru is a girl's name!"

"But it's so kawaiiiiiiiiii!!!"

"But I'm a guy!"

"Still, it's either Naru-chan or Chibi-Ruto!"

"All of a sudden I'm starting to like Naru-chan!"

"I'm ready!!!"

"Come out and let me see, then!"

I walked out of the bathroom, wearing a full ANBU uniform.

"How do I look?"

"Really good! Oh, wait one second!" Naruto pulled a black ribbon out of the dress I was wearing earlier and used it to tie my hair into a ponytail. "There!" He pulled the mask down onto my face. "Perfect!"

"Wow!" I stared at the reflection in the mirror. "You have good fashion sense, Naru-chan! You must be gay!" I flashed him a smile.

"For the last time I'm not gay!"

"Whatevs chibi-ruto!"

Naruto just growled at that comment.

"I'd better leave your apartment before someone-"

DING-DONG! Someone was at the door. Darn!

"Marina-chan you have to hide!"

"Why?"

"It's Sakura!"

"So?"

"You're in ANBU uniform, remember?!"

"Oh yeah!" I crawled under Naruto's bed and listened to everything Sakura had to say:

"Naruto-kun, I need your help…"

"Sakura-chan asking for my help? This must be serious!"

"I'm having *ahem* boy troubles."

"If you want to flirt with Sasuke, I told you already ask him to spar!"

"It's not Sasuke I have in mind…"

"WHAT?"

"It's someone else."

"Who?"

"I can't say."

"Tell me!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing!"

"You know I can figure it out!"

"Naruto, don't you dare!"

"I'll just list all the guys until you blush!"

"Naruto!"

"Kiba," Nothing.

"Shino," Nothing.

"Shikamaru," Nothing.

"Choji," Nothing. "So, he's not in the rookie nine! Hmm?"

"Neji?" Nothing

"Could it be, Lee?"

"Naruto!"

"Sakura-chan, you have to take your face out of your hands to make this work! Lee?"

"Ok, I admit it-"

And that's when he closed the bedroom door. About an hour later, Naruto knocked on the door.

"MARINA-CHAN! LEMME IN!"

"Okay, coming!" I unlocked the door to let him in. "You ok?!"

"Yeah, just a bit shaken up." He pointed at the massive bump on his head. "Sakura-chan can be really aggressive sometimes!"

"Yeah."

"Why are you still in uniform?"

"I am?"

"Kinda."

"Oh…" I pulled the ribbon out of my hair. "I'll get changed now!" I started to unzip my top.

"In the bathroom, Marina!"

"Oh yeah, sorry!" I walked into the bathroom and changed back into my normal clothes.

"Marina-chan?"

"Yup?"

"You wanna prepare for that sleepover tomorrow?"

"Prepare? I already have cookies, candy, icecream, drinks and chips. What else is there to prepare?"

"Hehehe, truth or dare!"

"Huh?"

"We could ask each other questions and come up with ideas!"

"Cool!"

"So," Naruto grinned evilly. "Truth or dare?"

"Um, hows about Truth?!"

"Is it true…"

"HURRY UP!!!"

"That you're afraid of the dark?"

"Yup."

"Your turn!"

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth!"

"Is it true you like Sasuke?"

"He's a complete teme!"

"Would that mean yes?"

"What is it with you thinking Sasuke and I are gay with each other?"

"IT'S MEANT TO BE!!!"

"You wish!"

"I do, actually!"

"WHAT?!"

"YAOI RULES!!! W00T W00T!"

"You are such a fangirl!"

"You still haven't answered my question!"

"Yes, I did!"

"Answer again!"

"Sorry, no can do!"

"NUUUUUUUU!"

"Anyway, we need to come up with some for the others!"

"Can't you see I'm having a mental breakdown over here!?"

"Pull yourself together, Marina!"

"Whatevs chibi-ruto!"

"This isn't all bad!"

"Hm?"

"You can use your dare to torture Sakura!"

"I thought you liked her!"

"I thought I did too…"

"Anyway, I have a feeling Sakura won't be coming…"

"Why not?"

"Can't tell!"

"If you tell me I'll give you a cookie."

"Hitting my weak spot! That's low, even for you, Naruto!"

"Two cookies."

"I'll tell you everything!"

"Go on then!"

"Hotaru and I are planning on entering the chunnin exams."

"Why?"

"We need to change what happens. So I kinda have to temporarily disable billboard brow."

"Why?"

"If I don't do this Sasuke will leave and become a bad guy!"

"Why would Sasuke leave?"

"STOP ASKING ME WHY!!!"

"But-"

"I'm sure Sasuke will tell you when he's ready!"

"Well, why did he tell you?"

"He didn't."

"THEN HOW THE FLUCK DO YOU KNOW!?"

"*Gasp* Naruto, is such language necessary?"

"DON'T LECTURE ME, PRINCESS!"

Did he just call me princess? I think he did! *RAWR!*

"WHAT!?"

"PRINCESS!"

"OK, NOW YOU ASKED FOR IT!"

"NO GLOMPING, MARINA!"

"NO HOLDS BARRED! W00T W00T!"

"AARGH, NO, NOT THERE! OWOWOWOWOW!"

"I IS STEALIN UR HAIRZ! NOW WHO'S THE PRINCESS!?"

"UMPH, YOU ARE! OW!"

"SAY THAT A BIT LOUDER! I DIDN'T CATCH THAT!"

"COMPROMISE! SAKURA!"

"I'll accept that."

* * *

**Marina: Now, wasn't that an interesting chapter... Renji is safely tied up in my closet along with all the other anime characters I keep in there, Naru-chan has a bald spot, and I has a cookie! *Holds up cookie* See!?**

**HAPPEH FICCIE READIN!**

**Hotaru: I accept no responsibility for marina's fangirl actions. None at all.**


	7. The slightly easier part

**Hotaru: Disclaimer time. You know the drill.**

**Marina: Why do I always have to do the disclaimer?**

**Hotaru: Because I said so. And because if you don't do it, I'll eat all your cookies!**

**Marina: Wedonotownnarutooranyothercharactersinthisficexeptmarinaandhotaru. *Takes big breath* Happy now?**

**Hotaru: Did you say something?**

**Marina: Nothing , just that you are the best sister ever!**

**Hotaru:That's what I thought you said.**

* * *

xX-Marina's POV-Xx

"COMPROMISE! SAKURA!"

"I'll accept that."

"Phew, I thought you were gonna go psycho on my butt."

"Hee hee, so did I! Now will you help me break Sakura's leg!?"

"No! You know I like her!"

"Either we do it quick and only slightly painful, or Hotaru-chan makes Sakura break her own leg, and we both know that she's a weakling…" I pulled a knife out of the cutlery drawer and started to make a sawing motion with it. "Hotaru will do it VERY slowly and VERY painfully. She hates Sakura, you know."

"Oh! Wait, why does she hate Sakura?"

"Because she's a liability to team 7, says she's hoplessly in love with Sasuke although she's never really nice to him and really mean to you even when you are trying to be nice!"

"Wow, she sure is harsh with Sakura."

"Yeah, Hotaru is very nit-picky."

"Nit-picky? Is that even a word?"

"It's Marinaeese!"

"I see."

"I have my own language!"

"It's hard enough to understand you when you are speaking Japanese!"

"But you love me anyway!"

"So, the Sasunaru obsessed fangirl now thinks that I love her!"

"Not like that! So, will you help me or not?"

"Um… I don't know…"

"Hotaru-chan will make you all the ramen you can eat!"

"But Sakura will hate me after this!"

"Dude, she hates you already! Besides, when we reveal that this was all to save Sasuke, she'll worship us!"

"Can't argue with that!"

"YAY! W00t w00t!"

So, we were off to break forehead's leg! Easier said than done as we discovered…

"Naruto! Hide!" I pointed at a nearby bush. "Over there!"

"Naruto! Was that you throwing stones at my window?" Sakura looked around and spotted a dash of blonde in one of the bushes. Blonde, not blond! Shoot! I'm in big trouble now! She walked towards the blonde bush, then peeked her head around it. When she spotted me she let out a small gasp.

"Why is there an ANBU in my garden?"

"I was, um, delivering a note from Sasuke-chan!"

"For me? Wait, why did you call him Sasuke_-chan_?"

"Oh, we go way back! Anyway, here's that note!"

"Um, why is it written on a leaf?"

"Um, Sasuke-chan cares for the planet so much, that he is refusing to use paper of any kind. Isn't he amazing!?"

"Wow, I never knew Sasuke was so passionate about the environment!"

"He is! I'd better be leaving now, Sasuke-chan will be expecting me, and he's _very_ overprotective." I said that just to mess with her head. "He's probably so worried!"

"You are just saying that to mess with me, cause he gave me a lovenote!"

"No, I know basically everything about him. Anyway says who that's a lovenote!"

"Of course it is! Sasuke has always loved me deep down!"

"Must be VERY deep down, cause Sasu-chan tells me everything!"

"Yeah, right!"

"He told me that he thinks Ino is prettier than you."

"WHAT!?"

"He thinks Ino is really pretty. I think he has a crush on her!"

"On Ino? Yeah right!"

"Sasu-chan has always been uncomfortable around girls!"

"That's impossible!"

"Not really. He's afraid that if he asks Ino out, you will hurt her, and Sasuke wouldn't want anything to happen to her!"

"Of course I would hurt her!"

"And that's why Sasu-chan doesn't like you. He says you are too aggressive."

"He says I'm aggressive?"

"Yeah, he says you act like you are the best in team 7, but you are even worse than Naruto! He says that you are pretty on the outside, but very petty and ugly on the inside."

"Me? Worse than Naruto?"

"Obviously, that's what Sasu-chan thinks. Anyway, I've wasted enough time here, Sasu-chan must be freaking out by now!" I ran down the street as if I was actually going somewhere, then ran back and hid in the bush beside Naruto.

"Has she read it yet?"

"What?"

"The leaf/letter!"

"Not yet."

Sakura opened the folded leaf and peered at the neat writing inside. Ten seconds later, she passed out.

"Worked like a charm!"

"What did you do, booby trap the leaf?"

"Nope, no booby traps, just writing!"

"Well what did you write?"

"Sakura, I am planning on asking Ino on a date. If you could suggest a restaurant or place she likes, it would help. P.S. I will never love you.

Love (not!) Sasuke."

"The 'I will never love you' was very un-Sasuke like."

"Yeah, but it had to be said. Anyway, if she knows that Sasuke hates her, you'll have a better chance of getting her to go on a date with you!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Now help me break this leg!" I lifted the unconscious Sakura's right leg and placed my hand on her shin. "Three, two, one…" I slammed down as hard as was humanly possible to try and get a clean break. I hate Sakura, but not that much.

CRACK!

"Is it broken?"

"It'd better be! I chipped my nail varnish!"

"Girls are so superficial!"

"I was kidding!"

"Yeah."

"I was! See!" I held out my hands, which were both perfectly manicured. "I use Virgin Vie Rockstar Nail colour in starstruck pink! Ain't it purdy?"

"Very purdy."

"GAY!!!"

"I was being sarcastic!"

"If you say so, but Sasuke will be oh so disappointed when he finds out you don't like him back!"

"Sasuke likes me?"

"HA! You are so gay!" Milk spurted out of my nose.

-klikadeedooda-

Hotaru: Three things. One: Where did you get milk from?

Marina: The alternate milk-up-my-nose universe!

Hotaru: Ew. Second: Why did the time remote go klikedooda?

Marina: I REPROGRAMMED IT!

Hotaru: It was an accident, wasn't it?

Marina: Define 'accident'.

Hotaru: Whatever. And three: SASUKE AND NARUTO ARE NOT GAY!

Marina: Not yet, they're not. But give me a month...

-Click-

-adee-MARINA!

-doo-THIS ISN'T

-da!-FUNNY!

"No I'm just curious!"

"Curious? Ha ha! I was right!"

"No, not that kind of curious! Curious as to wether or not you are lying or telling the truth!"

"I'm lying. Sue me."

"So Sasuke doesn't like me?"

"He does, he just hasn't quite realized it yet…"

"So, he doesn't."

"Basically. Now I'm sad. I'm gonna go cry in my emo corner with my Gaara plushie!"

"Isn't Gaara that weird redhead from the sand village? The evil-looking one?"

"Yes! Isn't he kawaiiiiiiiiiii?!"

"I heard he kills people."

"I know!"

"Killing people is bad, Marina-chan!"

"Not if you do it like he does!"

"How does he do it then?"

"He uses the sand in his gourd to trap the person, using his chakra to harden the sand, then he crushes them with it."

"How is that cool?"

"You'll see in the exams!" I ran off, squealing like a fangirl. When I arrived at the hotel, Hotaru was sitting on the bed, waiting for me.

"We're in. Is billboard brow out of action?"

"You sound like a spy! I wanna be a pirate! Aye, Avast! The she-beast is no more. Argh!"

"Dolt! You killed her?"

"I mean her right leg is no more. Argh! I be very sorry for the misunderstandin'. I'll be havin a cookie now, if you please!"

"Marina, you can only have a cookie if you have done your task."

"I be done the task. Take a cookie now, I shall!"

"Marina stop fooling around! Anyway, that's Yoda, not pirate."

"What's a yoda?"

"Nothing."

**Hotaru: Our thanks to everyone who reviews.**

**Marina: WE LUFF YEW ALL!**

**Hotaru: Exept you, the guy in the red retro sunglasses. We don't like you.**

**Marina: Taru-chan! How could you say such awful things?**

**Hotaru: Three things. One: Why the hell would anyone be wearing sunglasses while reading fanfiction?**

**Marina: True...**

**Hotaru: Two: It's winter. What kind of idiot wears sunglasses in winter?**

**Marina: Also true...**

**Hotaru: And third, he ate your cookie. I had to spend an hour finding you another one.**

**Marina: WHAT!? HE ATE MY COOKIE!? DIE! *Jumps on man in red retro sunglasses***

**Hotaru:*sigh* Our thanks to everyone who left stole the milk coming out of Marina's nose from a review. It was too funny to pass up. I was reading it and got a mental image of milk coming out of Marina's nose, and had to share it with the world...**

**Marina: h a p p y f a n f i c r e a d i n g ! !**

**Hotaru: Learn when to use spaces!**

**Marina: I U S E T H E M E V E R Y W H E R E ! ! ! G O S P A C E S ! ! !**


	8. The wait

**Hotaru: Today I am doing the disclaimer, because Marina was enjoying a Sasunaru fanfic a bit too much. (She's in hospital because of blood loss. (Via nosebleed...) So as per usual, we only own Hotaru and Marina. Not Naruto.**

**Marina: *Pops up in pink hospital robes* BUT I DO OWN GAARA!!!**

**Hotaru: No, you don't. Enjoy.**

* * *

Xx-Hotaru's POV-xX

The next day, Marina and I were waiting to be summoned by the old man. If he didn't call us within thirty minutes, then I would go to the hokage tower and suggest merging teams for the forest of death. If he said no, I would probably pull the 'we're princesses' card, and if that didn't work I'd try to force him using genjutsu. I'd watched enough Naruto to know that smart people were better at it. And if that didn't work (highly unlikely) I would suggest the idea to Sasuke, and get **him** to use genjutsu on the old man. My plan goes on forever but the long and the short of it is, we're teaming up.

There was a knock at the door. I didn't even bother to get up, cause I knew Marina was about to get it. The only thing that could get me out of my chair right now would be an earthquake, and even then it would be because it shook me out, not because I got up voluntarily.

"GUY-SENSEI!!!" I heard a glomp.

"That's very nice of you, my youthful friend, but I have a message for you and Hotaru-san from the Hokage."

"A message? Yay!"

"Were you expecting something, Marina-chan?"

"Well Hotaru and I--"

Turns out I was wrong, something could get me out of my chair…

"Needed to know if you could recommend us for the exams. We still need someone to, and Marina-neechan said you'd have no problem doing it…"

"That would be a pleasure, Hotaru-san!"

I bowed politely and said: "Thank you Guy-sen--"

"I LUFF YEW GUY-SENSEI!!!" Another glomp…

"That is very sweet of you, my ever-youthful friend, but I still must tell you my message. Hokage-sama needs to speak to you two immediately. Something about the chuunin exams…"

"Thank you Guy-sensei."

"THANKIE YEW!!!" Marina could make a nun swear using only her bad spelling…

-klikadeedooda-

Marina: My spelling is not that bad!

Hotaru: Three things. One, yes it is. Two, What the hell is a klikadeedooda? And three, give me back my time remote!

Marina: One, Scroo yew. Two, It is a rare species of monkey usually used in musicals and plays. And three, wacha gonna do if I don't?

Hotaru: Eat your Gaara plushie.

Marina: YEW HEARTLESS SUPER-BITCH!

Hotaru: Marina! Language! This fic is rated T! No swearing.

Marina: But I like-a swearing!

Hotaru: And I like eating Gaara plushies!

Marina: Point taken. Haff yer stoopid wemote bak yew soopur bi-- I'll stop now.

Hotaru: Thank you.

-click-

We walked over to the hokage tower to meet the Hokage. When we arrived, Marina spotted Naruto and Sasuke in the waiting room.

"Naru-chan! Duckbutt-head!" Marina glomped Naruto and just gave Sasuke a small hug. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, Hokage-sama summoned us. Something about the--"

"Chuunin exams?"

"Exactly."

"Same here."

"Cool!"

"No."

"What?"

"Ice cold!"

"Hn." Sasuke almost smiled when he heard Marina's cheesy comeback.

"Shut up, teme!"

Sasuke growled when Marina called him 'teme'.

"Sasuke-kun, don't growl!"

"Hn?"

"It will ruin your amazing voice!"

"Stupid fangirl."

"WOO! SASUKE AKNOWLEGED MY EXISTENCE!"

"How come I don't have any fangirls!?" Naruto asked with a sad look in his eyes. "What does Sasuke have that I don't?"

"You'll always have at least one fangirl!"

"Marina, we both know that you are a Gaara fangirl!"

"I wasn't exactly saying that I was the fangirl!" Marina chirped as she shoved her elbow into Sasuke's ribs.

"Stupid yaoi hentai perv!"

"No hentai, just yaoi."

"And perv?"

"No way."

A tall, dark-haired jounin pushed through the door, making everyone jump.

"Hokage-sama can see you now." He said as he motioned for us to enter the office we knew all too well. We all walked in and stood in front of Sarutobi's desk.

"I am very sure you are all aware of Haruno Sakura's accident," Everyone nodded. "With one team smaller than the rest, we already look weaker than the other villages, but with two teams we will have to either disqualify one team, or…"

"Or what, Old man?"

"Merge the teams."

"Well, I vote merge the teams, but if one team must go I vote team 7." There was no way I was going to be disqualified. After I got out of my chair for this exam, I wanted results.

"Naru-chan did ya hear that? We get to be on the same team!" Marina was jumping up and down, while doing a happy dance.

"I can understand why we'd want Marina on our team, but why would we want her?" Sasuke asked pointing directly at me.

"What are you talking about, you stupid emo?!"

"I mean look at her, she can barely walk half a kilometre. How are we supposed to pass with her on our team?"

That was going too far. Now it's personal.

"Well, her body might not be the strongest, but she's the smartest person I have ever met!"

Note to self: give Marina a cookie when we get home. **Yay! Cookies!!! **Marina, what are you doing in my mind? **I has nuuu ideaz! **Well then get out of my mind!** What if I don't want to? ***singing* Oh, mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mi-** I SURRENDER! **

Hehehe, works every time! But, how the hell does Marina get into my mind? **I dunno!** MARINA!!! **Going, going!**

"But, we is like the three musketeers! Only, there's two of us. And we're way better dressed… But still! All for all, and one for… um… something!"

"Marina, do you mean all for one and one for all?"

"Yeah! What she said!"

"I'll fight you." Sasuke brushed the imaginary dirt off his shorts. "If I win, Marina joins our team."

"And if I win?" I said, clenching my hands into fists.

"If you win, we'll merge teams."

"And you'll apologise."

"And I'll apologise."

"Hokage-sama, will you be proctor?"

"Very well, then. Begin."

"Hokage-sama, do you really want them to mess up your off-" Marina stopped when she heard Sasuke falling to his knees.

"I forefeit."

I was sitting in the same chair I had been sitting in the whole time. What else can I say, (Um… think.) it was too comfy to leave. I was right. I was good at genjutsu. "And?"

"I apologise for calling you weak."

"Thank you."

"WOO HOTARU! YOU RULE! MAKE HIM PAY!" Marina was jumping up and down, with the pompoms she always whisked out of the alternate pocket universe when she was happy. "KICK HIS SORRY (Yet cute…) ASS!"

"I already did."

"How?"

"You blinked and missed it."

"Well, then." Sarutobi cleared his throat. "I guess it's settled."

"Naru-chan! We can go to the forest of death together!"

"Cool!"

"No."

"Let me guess, Ice cold?"

"Nope!"

"What is it then?"

"Sooperdeedoopuefantabuloustasticalamazing!"

"That's a new word."

"Yes, now Marina and I need to go finish packing."

"I see. Seeya, Marina-chan!"

"Byebyez!"

I dragged Marina from his office.

**Hotaru: Our thanks to everyone who reviews. Next chapter we will finally be in the forest of death.**

**Marina: AND I'LL SEE GAARA-CHAN!!!**

**Hotaru: We'll see. It might take a bit longer to meet Gaara.**

**Marina: Awww... Review please. Also if there are any pairings you like, please tell us so we can try to include them. There will be no Sai for quite a while, though. AND GAARA IS MINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Thanks for listening. I mean, um, reading...**


	9. Forest of death, here we come!

xX-Marina's point of view-Xx

The next two days passed quickly, and before we knew it we were standing outside the gate, being verbally abused by Anko.

"Listen up, maggots! This is training ground 27, they call it the forest of death. And soon you're gonna find out why."

Naruto stuck out his butt and put his hands on his hips, looking somewhat like a chicken. "They call it the forest of death and soon you're gonna find out why! Bring it on! You don't scare me! Dattebayo!"

"So, it looks like we have a tough guy!" Anko asked, as a kunai grazed Naruto's face. Within a second Anko was behind Naruto holding a kunai to his throat. "It's guys like you who leave their blood all over the training ground."

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY NARU-CHAN!"

"Excuse me?" Anko popped up in front of Marina, holding a kunai to her forehead. "Could you please repeat that?"

"I SAID HOW DARE YOU INSULT HIM!" Marina said, quickly grabbing the kunai from Anko's hand and poking her in the stomach with it. "I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S ALLOWED TO DO THAT!" Marina pushed harder.

Anko used a replacement jutsu, and popped up onto a tree. "It's people like you whose blood will be poured all over the forest."

"You wish, Anko-baka! Why don't you just get back to your odango and leave us in peace!"

With that, Anko popped back to her spot on the ground.

"Before we begin, I will need you to sign these consent forms." Anko held up a pile of sheets.

"Consent forms?" Ino asked, looking very scared. "What for?"

"Because if you didn't sign these your injuries and, maybe, fatalities would be my responsibility. Imagine that!" Anko replied with a chuckle.

So, this was finally getting serious.

.:General point of view:.

"The test starts… NOW!" Anko shouted, while looking down at her watch.

Marina, Hotaru, Naruto and Sasuke were all standing just inside gate 12.

Marina was wearing a way-too-cute-to-be-functional dress, while everyone else was in their usual outfits.

"Marina-chan, why are you wearing that dress? This is a survival test you know!"

"Taru-chan, please explain to Naru-chan why I am wearing this."

"Well, the bright colours and frills distract the eyes. The thread laced up the front is steel thread, a short skirt allows full mobility and she's hiding shuriken in her boots and senbon in her garter thingy."

"Well what about that oversized bow in her hair?"

"That's to keep her hair out of her eyes."

Marina was staring at the white scroll in Sasuke's hand.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you get the scroll?"

"Cause you'd happily trade it for a cookie."

"Good point." Marina took a few steps forward, staring into the seemingly empty forest. Without warning, she jumped into a bush. A few seconds later she walked back out holding a cute white bunny rabbit. "Look! A rabbit! Isn't he cute?"

"Marina, spell cute." Sasuke said, readying his weapons.

"C-U-T-E." Marina cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

Sasuke grabbed Marina and pinned her onto the ground. He held a kunai to her throat. "Hotaru, check her chakra!"

Hotaru walked over to the blonde and put a hand on her forehead. "That's not Marina's chakra."

The imposter dropped his genjutsu. "How did you know I wasn't her?"

"Three reasons. One, Marina can't spell. Two, I heard you kidnap her. And three, Marina has no chakra."

"What? No chakra!?" Naruto looked stunned. "But she beat Lee!"

"Using Taijutsu."

"She beat bushy-brows with only taijutsu?"

"That's what I said. Now, can you two please take care of this guy so we can get Marina back?"

"Oh, sorry!" Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Sasuke and Naruto started attacking the enemy nin. He dodged most of their attacks easily, not taking much damage.

"Stupid ninja, stealing my… me!" Marina jumped out of the bush she had been tied up in, pulling the last of the ropes from her arms and legs. "You is gonna pay, Meanie!" Marina jumped from her spot and glomped the attacking nin. Yes, glomped. She jumped from on top of the, now unconscious, steam ninja. "Serves you right, teme!"

"Marina-chan, what did you do?"

"Glomped him."

"I saw that, but why is he unconscious?"

"I glomped .35 of a degree higher than I usually do, so now he's out cold for at least a week."

"WHAT!?" They both yelled in unison.

"Marina can do that, you know." Hotaru explained. "She is THE global glomping expert. She could write a book on it, if her attention span was long enough."

Naruto looked hacked off "And are you an expert computer hacker?"

"Well, now that you mention it…"

The team walked on, until Hotaru and Sasuke sensed enemy chakra. (Marina and Naruto were too engrossed in their conversation about cheese to notice…)

"Get down! There are enemies ahead!" Sasuke said, pushing everyone into the nearest bush.

_Ah! Crap! It's Orochimaru… _**Orochimaru?! Where?!** _He's coming faster than I expected!_ **I see.** _Promise me one, no, two things, Marina!_ **What?** _First, don't give him Sasuke._** Easy peasy.** _Not even for a cookie._ **Harder, but I'll survive. **_Two, stay out of my head! _**Leaving!**

"Come on, you little ones, I can see you!" The female grass nin neared the bush. "If you come out now, I promise I won't kill you!"

Marina grabbed one of the senbon from her garter and jabbed it through her hand. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and pulled the, now bloody, needle out and started to write with it.

"Marina what are you doing!?" Naruto whispered into his temporary teammate's ear. "We're already gonna get roughed up enough without you going all emo on us!"

"Wait…" Marina folded the piece of paper and stuck the senbon through. "And you'll see!" She threw it at a tree, inches away from the grass nin's head.

"I see we have a feisty one!" The enemy nin pulled the note from the stained needle and read it. "Well, well. If you already know who I am, I might as well drop this jutsu." She put her hand to her right eye, and then tore the skin from her face as if it was a mask. "If you already know who I am, you should know that hiding is futile!" His long tongue darted out and sped toward the bush where the team were hiding. It wrapped around Naruto's neck and dragged him down to the forest floor.

"Great" Sasuke muttered. "Now we have to save him."

"As usual." Hotaru said. "Sometimes it feels like I spend my entire life saving blondes who don't have any common sense."

"Hn." Sasuke was as talkative as ever.


End file.
